Whitmore Center Awards Global Management Certificates

Global Management Certificate recipient Brian Jepperson in front of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London during his study abroad. PROVO, Utah – Apr 19, 2012 – Sixty Brigham Young University students received Global Management Certificates from the Kay and Yvonne Whitmore Global Management Center/CIBER at a banquet in their honor, joining a group of more than 500 others who have also earned this credential.

Students participating in Global Management Certificate program, now in its tenth year, take international business and foreign business language classes in addition to completing an international internship or a study abroad.

Mark A. Baker, director of world class manufacturing, quality, safety, health and environment for Saint-Gobain S.A., spoke at the banquet commemorating the certificate recipients and other Whitmore Center scholars.

"This is a wonderful group with enormous potential to go out and really change the world," Baker said. "I hope you can nurture your potential and enrich the world."

For some students, earning the certificate opened doors never before imagined. Brian Jepperson, a 2012 accounting graduate from Salt Lake City, is planning to further his education overseas because of the international experience he had while obtaining the Global Management Certificate.

"I went on an accounting study abroad in London and was able to visit Belgium and France and see how accounting is done there," says Jepperson, who will be interning with Ernst & Young this summer. "I'm planning to head back to London to pursue a master's degree. Earning this certificate sparked my interest in attending graduate school in Europe."

Many international students who obtain the certificate hope to return to their native countries with additional experience and training.

"Being here is an international experience for me," says Nacor Tortosa, a second-year MBA candidate from Elche, Spain. "I'm going to work at Amazon.com in Kansas for one year and then try to move back to Europe or Spain. Having the certification is very valuable to my career."

The certificate program helps students utilize their foreign language skills and international experiences and provides them with tools for success in the global business world.

"Most of the companies I interviewed with asked about the Global Management Certificate and the international internship I did," says Scott Carr, a 2012 history graduate from Boise, Idaho. "I felt like obtaining the certificate was a perfect fit for me because I speak Chinese and have a business minor. The classes and the internship were really beneficial and helped me get a job."

Carr will be joining Melaleuca, Inc. in Idaho Falls, Idaho, in its international department upon graduation in April.

"It's great that the Marriott School is so diverse and has a certificate that emphasizes international business," says Miguel Alvear, a 2012 global supply chain graduate from Chile. "The more I learn and am involved with the certificate the more I'm amazed by it."

The Marriott School is located at Brigham Young University, the largest privately owned, church-sponsored university in the United States. The school has nationally recognized programs in accounting, business management, public management, information systems and entrepreneurship. The school's mission is to prepare men and women of faith, character and professional ability for positions of leadership throughout the world. Approximately 3,000 students are enrolled in the Marriott School's graduate and undergraduate programs.